BILL NUMBER: AB 1676 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 24, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Jeffries and Solorio)
JANUARY 21, 2010
An act to add Section 1065 to the Government Code, relating to
elected officials , and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1676, as amended, Fuentes. Elected officials: residency
requirements.
Existing law imposes residency requirements on specified elected
officials in California. The California Constitution provides that
each house of the Legislature is the sole judge of the qualifications
of its Members.
This bill would require that a person elected to a nonjudicial
public office for a county, city, or school district, maintain his or
her domicile, as defined, within the jurisdiction within which
voters are qualified to vote for the office during his or her term of
office. The bill would require a person who violates this provision
to immediately forfeit his or her office and would disqualify the
person from holding any state or local public office for a period of
4 years. The bill would provide that these provisions would apply to
all persons holding a nonjudicial, public office for a county, city,
or school district on or after the effective date of the bill. As to
persons holding these offices serving terms of office that commence
on or after November 2, 2010, the bill would also make a violation of
the domicile requirement punishable by either a civil penalty not to
exceed $1,000 or a fine not to exceed $1,000, imprisonment in a
county jail for no more than 6 months, or by both fine and
imprisonment. The bill would authorize enforcement of its provisions
by the Attorney General, the district attorney or the county counsel
of a county for a violation involving a nonjudicial public office
whose territory is located wholly or partially within that county, or
by the city attorney of a city for a violation involving a
nonjudicial public office whose territory is located wholly or
partially within that city.
The bill would also provide that Members of the Legislature
should be domiciled in the districts that they represent and that
each house of the Legislature should review its rules relative to
qualifications to hold office and amend those rules as appropriate.
By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1065 is added to the Government Code, to read:
1065. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
elected to a nonjudicial public office for a county, a city, or a
school district, shall continue to maintain his or her domicile
within the jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote for the
office during his or her term of office. A person does not violate
this subdivision if, after being elected for a term of office, the
boundaries of the jurisdiction in which voters are qualified to vote
for the office are changed during that term of office so as to
exclude his or her domicile.
(b) A person who violates subdivision (a) shall immediately
forfeit his or her office and is disqualified from holding any state
or local public office for a period of four years.
(c) A violation of subdivision (a) is punishable by one of the
following:
(1) A civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) By imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding six months, or
by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both
that fine and imprisonment.
(d) An action to enforce this section may be brought by the
Attorney General, the district attorney or county counsel of a county
for a violation involving a nonjudicial public office whose
territory is located wholly or partially within that county, or the
city attorney of a city for a violation involving a nonjudicial
public office whose territory is located wholly or partially within
that city.
(e) Subdivisions (a) and (b) apply to all persons holding a
nonjudicial public office for a county, city, or school district on
or after the effective date of the statute that added this section.
Subdivision (c) applies only to persons holding these offices under
terms of office that commence on or after November 2, 2010.
(f) For purposes of this section, "domicile" shall have the same
meaning as defined in subsection (b) of Section 349 of the Elections
Code.
SEC. 2. The provisions of this section are severable. If any
provision of this section or its application is held invalid, that
invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can
be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SEC. 3. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that, in order
to ensure that Members of the Legislature adequately and effectively
represent their constituents, those elected to the Legislature should
be domiciled in the districts that they are elected to represent. As
each house of the Legislature judges its rules relative to the
qualifications to hold office pursuant to Section 5 of Article IV of
the California Constitution, each house of the Legislature should
review its rules relative to qualifications to hold office and should
amend those rules as appropriate.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
SEC. 5. This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
Because existing law is unclear as to whether a public official
must be domiciled in the jurisdiction in which voters are qualified
to vote for the office during his or her incumbency in the office, it
is necessary that this act take immediate effect.